92% OF INTER-county players believe managers should be compensated, according to a government grant survey carried out by the GPA.
GAA President Jarlath Burns suggested earlier this week that there could potential contracts for inter-county bosses in the future, referring to the role as “nearly a full-time job” on RTÉ Radio 1′s Drivetime.
GPA CEO Tom Parsons says that 92% of its members agree that managers should be compensated, according to data in the survey. Additionally, 93% say that there should be an open and transparent compensation structure for GAA managers.
“Players are supportive of managers being compensated and believe they already are,” Parsons explained to the media in a video call which covered a range of topics including the new proposed playing rules from the Football Review Committee [FRC] The rules will be trialled in the interprovincial competition this weekend.
“I think everyone on this call probably has that view as well. That’s just the whole country. Look, that doesn’t mean players want pay-for-play. Some tiers of players do need a stronger value proposition with the amount the investment is on and off the field for the Inter-county game.
“This has been brought up in the GPA, the NEC [National Executive Committee] as well. The GAA do pay 350 coaches, games development officers around the country who do incredible work but they’re professional coaches. They work with development squads, inter-county, underage, grassroots, clubs and schools.
“Players are calling for transparency and the recognition that inter-county managers are being putting in considerable time. That’s just the facts that we have and I want to be open and transparent about that.”
Parsons also addressed the dissatisfaction among managers in relation to pre-season competitions being axed. Central Council opted to disband the competitions for a season following a motion put forward by the GPA. Several managers, including Galway boss Pádraic Joyce, have criticised the decision and have called for them to be restored.
And while Parsons accepts their feelings on the matter, he stressed that the move is for the good of player welfare.
“I completely understand where some inter-county managers are coming from. And their position is warranted. The decision is totally based on player welfare.”
Parsons added that players have indicated to him that they needed time to adjust to the rules, as they will be just returning to training in December ahead of the 2025 season.
“Some players think actually to give the rules bedding in time for six weeks that by the time the league comes, they should look fairly polished. If the first couple of games look terrible, it’s hard to put it back.
“From a GPA perspective all the data was saying we absolutely need to address player welfare. When we agreed the split season and we agreed on the new competition structures, we looked at proposal B and then we looked at this new structure where teams are getting more game time and we’re reducing the training to game ratio. We essentially squeezed 10 months of activity into seven months. That body of work was done with a GAA fixture task force.
“That task force at the time recommended that the pre-season competitions go. So this certainly isn’t a new thing, but we stand over the data, the position on player welfare and players returning to training on 7 December with six weeks of work before a competitive game.”
The seven rules aimed at enhancing the game will be trialled at the interprovincial competition this weekend which will take place on Friday and Saturday. Parsons says the GPA has concerns regarding the games being played on back-to-back days. They also take issue with games being staged on Friday night, and the pressure it places on players with their work and education commitments.
“We raised the red flag with the GAA, with Jarlath[Burns] and Tom [Ryan]. A 6pm game on a Friday was the most significant concern. Players have really had to take a half day off work or potentially a full day off work. So, what I can say there is that it has absolutely been raised with the GAA.
“The GAA has given us assurances that this is a once-off and the GPA certainly wouldn’t want a move to games being played on Friday night. And we’ve been given assurances that this is an exceptional circumstances, a request from the FRC [Football Review Committee] to get the games played over a weekend. It didn’t sit well with the GPA with games scheduled for 6pm on a Friday.”
Parsons also explained that the FRC has said that players will be rotated during the games to prevent playing overload. They have also informed him that they wanted to leave Sunday free, to allow players spend time with their families.
